icon - leonor fini

holding sculpture, paris, 1937

photograph by horst p. horst, paris, 1946

photograph by erwin blumenfeld, 1938-1939

photograph by george platt-lynes, new york, 1936

in feathered mask, 1946

photographed by henri cartier-bresson, 1933

photograph by eddy brofferio, 1975

painting in her studio, 1952

photograph by andré ostier, paris, 1948

with cat, photograph by dora maar, 1936

photograph by arturo ghergo, 1944-1945

with mannequin, photograph by henri cartier-bresson, 1933

the legs of leonor fini, photograph by henri cartier-bresson, ca. 1932

photograph by man ray, paris, 1936

arriving at the beistegui ball, 1951

man ray - i want your sex

automne, 1929

anatomies, 1929

nusch & paul éluard 

monument to sade, 1933

the fantasies of mr. seabrook, ca. 1930

meret oppenheim, ca. 1930

lips (the kiss variation), 1930

leg in one stocking with garter

été, 1929

picasso with yvonne zervos & another woman, ca. 1930s

meret oppenheim, 1933

prayer la priére, 1930

nusch & ady, 1937

la prostitution (man ray & kiki de montparnasse), 1925

self-portrait with meret oppenheim, 1933

lee miller & friend, ca. 1930s

dora maar's legs, 1936

all photographs by man ray.

la femmes de man ray - ady (adrienne fidelin)

ca. 1937

la mode au congo, harper's bazaar, 1937

man ray & adrienne fidelin

1937

ca. 1937

ca. mid to late 1930s

ady, marie & paul cuttoli, pablo picasso, dora maar & man ray summering in antibes.

in 1936 adrienne fidelin, a young dancer from guadeloupe met man ray in paris. she was in her mid 20s & he was 46. she became his lover, muse & model - not much more than that is known about their meeting, the details of her life or what happened to her after her affair with man ray ended.

she was welcomed by man ray's group of friends & socialized & vacationed with the likes of pablo picasso, dora maar, paul éluard & his wife nusch, max ernst & lee miller & husband roland penrose.

in 1937 man ray photographed ady for harper's bazaar. (william randolph hearst, bazaar's publisher, prohibited photographs of blacks in the magazine - not uncommon for the time.) the photos were inspired by an exhibtion of headdresses from the belgian congo that man ray had seen at the galerie charles ratton in paris earlier that spring. four pictures were selected for the 2 page spread, headlined "the bushongo of africa sends his hats to paris. 3 images of white women, along with text by paul éluard were on the left. on the right the entire page was of fidelin. 

fidelin & man ray parted in 1940 when he fled france for the states during the nazi occupation while she chose to remain in paris to care for her family.  she later married, & the last thing on record is that she was dancing at a "negro" club on the champs-élysée.

la femmes de pablo picasso - dora maar

the weeping woman, 1937

dora maar with crown of flowers, 1937

dora maar, picasso, ady & kasbec the dog by man ray, 1937

portrait of dora maar, 1937

picasso et les portraits de dora maar, atelier des grands-augustins, paris, by brassaï,  1939

dora maar by man ray, 1936

the yellow sweater, 1937

picasso & dora

dora maar au chat, 1941

dora maar, picasso & lee miller, 1937

in 1936 the 54 year old picasso first met 29 year old dora maar on the terrace of the les deux magots cafe. accompanied by poet paul eluard, he couldn't take his eyes off her, in part because she kept driving a penknife between her fingers into the table. when she would miss, drops of blood would appear on her gloves. they left the cafe together & picasso asked to keep the gloves as a souvenir. (he kept them on a shelf in his apartment). their relationship would last for the next 9 years.

maar was already a highly regarded photographer when she met picasso. she was born in france in 1907 but grew up in argentina. she became his constant companion & lover & as his new muse, picasso drew and painted maar incessantly. maar became the rival of marie-thérèse walter who had just given birth to picasso's daughter maya. dora was the exact opposite of blonde marie-thérèse - dark & sad, picasso called her his "private muse." (speculation is that her melancholy was related to her infertility.)

when picasso abandoned maar for francoise gilot in 1945, she had a nervous breakdown & became a recluse. when she died in 1997 a treasure trove of paintings & souvenirs were discovered. as with picasso's previous lovers she never got over him & died poor & alone.